Dementia and Death
by Arthurs Merlin
Summary: Starts March 1977. The peak of the NEWT exams and both Lily and James had worries of their own. Lily still has to be won over by James. But will Lily find that she and James finally are worrying about the same people? Lily and James for a friendship.
1. Chapter 1

Authors Note: This is the first chapter of a long story about the effects of dementia and how Lily and James are slowly brought together about the mental demise of their family members. James struggles to cope and begins to lash out at his friends but finds that the one person he can talk to is the one person who has spent the last seven years avoiding.

The air was a bright blue and there was bright white clouds floating across the sky and the sunlight was still only dim as the day was approaching in West England. It was early morning and Lily Evans was struggling with a suitcase trying to walk down her garden path without dropping it.

'Lily, here stop that,' Mr Evans said and hurried up towards his daughter 'let me take that'

Lily smiled in appreciation and breathed a sigh of relief as her father took the heavy leather case from her.

'Dad, how long will it take to get there?' Lily asked pensively

'It depends Lily, if theres not much traffic then we will get there in no time,'

'Isn't Petunia coming?' Lily said curiously.

Her father sighed and looking sadly at his daughter he replied

'No shes busy this weekend, with Vernon,'

Lily groaned. She hated the fact that her sister never wanted to come and see their grandparents.

'Lily is there anything else to go in to the car?'

'Yeah dad, I just need to grab my satchel. Can we stop on the way up dad?' Lily asked walking back into the house.

Lily quickly ran up the stairs and looking out of the landing window saw Petunia and her boyfriend huddled up on the bench in the back garden cuddling. Lily glared at her and couldn't believe that Petunia would rather spend time with Vernon than go and see her family.

But then again Petunia never had been very Evans family orientated she always preferred her mothers side of the family, the Benn Family. Lily on the other hand always put family and friends before anything else. Her schoolwork was important but her family were the most special people in her life. And no one was more important to Lily than her Nana Evans.

Lily rushed into her room and grabbed her satchel of her night stand and hurried back down the stairs taking two at a time.

Lily opened the car door and settled herself in the front seat. Her dad closed the boot and hurled himself into the car.

'Right you ready, love?' Mr Evans said.

'Yeah dad, as long as we can stop up on the way,' Lily said smiling. Mr Evans beamed at his daughter but then his smile turned to sadness.

'Well then lets go,' Mr Evans said cheerily, though the sad look on his face never really vanished from his eyes.

AN: This is the first chapter of an ongoing story….James makes an appearance in the next chapter.  Don't own a thing just the idea. Everything belongs to JKR and WB


	2. Chapter 2

The drive up to Newcastle was long. A lot longer than Lily remembered. She hadn't visited Nana Evans in about a year because Lily had been at Hogwarts she was never home when her parents decided to visit family. However Lily enjoyed just looking out across the blurring fields and many other cars on the roads. She was enjoying this short break away from Hogwarts but was looking forward to going back after the Easter holidays had finished.

'You look like you are thinking Lily, everything alright?' Mr Evans asked worriedly

'Yeah dad, I'm just thinking about school,'

'How is Hogwarts, is that young fella still giving you trouble?'

Lily laughed

'No dad, Severus and I just friends, well more like acquaintances nowadays. What's new with you and Mum?'

'Well your mum has taken on the role of Matron at St Philomena's in Pankhurst. The old Matron retired because of stress, and me well you know me Lils. I'm plugging along,' Mr Evans explained simply

'Wow,' Lily said 'didn't know mum wanted to be Matron,'

'She was sort of forced into it,' Mr Evans explained 'ah there's the turn off,'

The car roared as Mr Evans put it in the wrong gear and turned off the motorway in the direction of Sunderland and Newcastle. Lily sighed, they were almost there. She looked out of her window and saw rows up rows of pink roofed houses and fields with sheep and cows dotted here and there. At the end of the flowing fields stood a group of small hills and on one of them stood an impressive Greek looking monument. And as Mr Evans drove the car further and further the hills and fields faded and Lily, for the first time in almost a year, saw the sea. She rolled her window down and took in the scene before her. The ocean stretched for miles and Lily just took the utmost pleasure in looking at it.

The seagulls were cooing over head as they approached Seaham Harbour and Lily sighed. Lily began gathering her things up which she had taken out of her satchel during the journey and got ready for her dad to park up outside her grandparent's house. However he reached the end of the road and instead of heading towards Silksworth he headed straight for the main port of Sunderland.

'Dad, where are we going?' Lily asked perplexed

'Lily, there's something I've not told you about your nana, your mother and I didn't want to worry you with you being away at Hogwarts. Your nana fell down the stairs, and she isn't very well. We are going to the hospital to see her, Lily are you alright?'

Lily was speechless. Her nana was her nana, she was indestructible. Nana's didn't fall over or go to hospital. Lily couldn't take it in and what made it worse was that her dad had deemed it fit not to tell her about any of it. Lily couldn't decipher whether she was angry at her dad or upset about her nana. Mr Evans pulled the car up outside the hospital a mere twenty minutes later. And Lily was scared. She didn't know anything about this and it had been dropped like a bombshell upon her head. Lily gingerly got out of the car, not speaking to her father and followed him into the hospital.

It was a strange place. There were people in the lobby who were in wheelchairs wrapped up in blankets and they were smoking despite looking deathly pale they were holding a cigarette to their lips puffing on what was most likely killing them. Lily gave them a reproachful look as she walked past. The walls were a mixture of egg yolk and off white with little specs of pink dots dashed here and there to create the appearance of wood chip wallpaper. Lily followed her dad up a short flight of stairs and then another flight of stairs until they came to a light  and bright ward where their were eight beds. Each one occupied by an elderly lady or a man and most of them were asleep. Mr Evans walked to the very last bed on the ward and Lily followed him, the bed was shielded by a curtain and Lily put her hand to her mouth in shock as she saw her Nana Evans lying on the bed.

There was a bandage on her head and tubes were going in and out of her hands. She was sat up a little and her eyes were unfocused. Next to her bed Granddad Evans was snoozing lightly in the chair. Nana looked up slightly as Lily and Mr Evans perched themselves on the end of her bed.

'Hello Mam,' Mr Evans said

Nana Evans looked blankly at her son. Her lips were slightly parted and slowly she lifted her fingers to her mouth.

'Ee, where am I? Who are you?' Nana Evans said

'Dad,' Lily whispered 'Whats wrong with her?'

'Lily, in the fall she fell over an dbumped her head. Now the doctors have said if we just talk around her she stays happy,'

'What?' Lily said incredulously 'shes sat there dad! We can talk TO her!'

'Lily,-'

'Oh, what,' Grandad Evans had just stirred awake, he eyed his son and Lily up shrewdly before saying 'ah you made it then,'

'Aye we did Dad, Lily has come to visit her nana,'

'Shes in a bad way love,' Grandad Evans 'Ive been in here every day, doctors say there is a swelling in her brain, that they can't remove,'

'What?' Lily sobbed 'what do you mean?'

'Calm down love,' Mr Evans said 'your nana will be fine, she just might not know who you are,'

After that Lily stayed in Sunderland with her granddad Evans and looked after Nana. Once Nana returned home she got worse, she had started asking Lily every few seconds where her mum was. Lily was sat in the front living room with her nana on Saturday afternoon while Granddad went out to play Bowels up the colliery.

'Nana,' Lily said gently 'are you okay,'

'Where's me mam?' Nana asked confused

'She's dead nana,' Lily said, unsure of how to handle this.

'No shes not,' Nana said defiantly 'Wheres Peggy?'

'Shes dead too nana, don't you remember?' Lily said gently trying not to get impatient

Nana bit her lip and her bright blue almond shaped eyes widedned as if in shock and she let out an enormous sigh and said 'Ee I'm getting terrible,' and she grinned at Lily. It was like this all the time now and as it came time for Lily to leave to go back home and off to Hogwarts she cried all the way on the coach back.

James Potter was sat in his summer house with Sirius Black and they were discussing quidditch and the recent triumph of the Trent Tigers who had finally broken into the League.

'I'm telling you there is no way they are going to stay up!' Sirius said

'You never know, miracles have happened!' James said brightly. Then James looked over Sirius' shoulder and saw that his elderly mother was walking gingerly down the garden path.

'Oh no, wait here Padfoot,' James mumbled and leaving the summer house quickly he rushed up to his mother.

'Mum, mum,' James half shouted at her, waving his hand in front of her face 'what are you doing,'

'Where's Rose? I want to see Rose, you can't take her away from me, I won't let you!' Mrs Potter said angrily, glaring at James 'I won't do it Cresswell! I won't do it, Richard let go of me!' she added eyeing James angrily

'Mum, I'm not Richard, I'm James,' he emphasised. She stopped and peering up at him curiously she said 'No your not! You Richard, you Flo and Matthews boy, now let go of me,' she added, James had hold of her arm trying to stop her from walking further down the path.

'Mum! Come inside with me!' James urged, but Mrs Potter was not moving

'Mum? I aint your mum,' she said consfused 'who are you?'

James groaned, and sighing he couldn't help crying a little as he slowly withdrew his wand from his back pocket.

'I'm sorry mum,'

'Stupefy,' James muttered and Mrs Potter collapsed in his arms.

'Sirius! Help me!' James yelled and Sirius came running out of the summer house.

'James what an earth,'

'Help me carry her back into the house,' James said struggling with his mothers weight. The two boys awkwardly carried Mrs Potter back into the house. Once she was settled on the sofa James rushed around the house shouting his dads name. He couldn't understand why his dad was not looking after his mum. Mr Potter always told James when e was going out and when he would be back.

'James, maybe he just popped out,' Sirius said, trying to calm his friend down but James wouldn't stop pacing in front of the fireplace and then out of the blue Mr Potter walked out of the fireplace.

'Son,' Mr Potter said quickly 'it was an emergency at work, I had to go-'

'AND LEAVE MUM ALONE WITHOUT TELLING ME!' James yelled

'James, the Ministry was in crisis, Flo Tinker was found dead this morning, she was a senior auror and-'

'Dad!' James said astounded at his fathers irresponsibility 'you left mum on her own, I don't care. Tell me when your leaving, she could've fallen or anything could've happened to her!'

'I am sorry James, it won't happen again, is she alright?' Mr Potter asked timidly sitting down next to his wife's limp body.

'She will be, I had to stun ,'her,' James mumbled 'C'mon Sirius I want to go out,'

Authors Note: Well there is the second chapter and the third is all ready. Don't own a thing everything belongs to jkr and WB


	3. Chapter 3

Lily jumped of the coach and grabbed her suitcase

Lily jumped of the coach and grabbed her suitcase. Mr Evans had had to go back home earlier in the week because of work commitments and Lily was forced to get back to Almondbury on her own. The village where Lily lived was just south of Wolverhampton and was made up of about twenty houses and a small shop and a pub. It was surrounded by fields and the nearest train station was at Mary St Catchpole a mile away and at the top of the main street in the village there was a green and a park. Lily remembered only too well her early years spent in the park with Severus and laughed at the idea of them being any more than friends. There was no one to greet her of the coach but she made her way up the lane to Felsps Cottage where her mum and dad would be waiting for her. As she wandered up the lane she was sure that out of the corner of her eye up above her in the clouds she saw something like a broomstick fly across the sky.

'James! That muggle nearly saw you!' Sirius said, roaring with laughter 'just think about it and how funny the look on her face would be when you just dropped out of the sky!'

'Funny Padfoot, I don't fall of brooms, unlike you,' James said 'I'm talented,'

'Yeah and your also an idiot,' Sirius said, is your wand in your back pocket?'

'Yeah, why?'

'Check your pocket,' Sirius said smartly

James grinned at Sirius and felt in his back pocket and to his horror found his wand had vanished

'Not so smart now are you?' Sirius said smartly

It must've dropped when I dipped below that cloud,' James groaned and he dived slowly towards the ground.

'Prongs,' Sirius yelled 'watch it!'

James dipped gently below the cluds and jumped from his broom to the ground, wirth a loud thud he landed on a very thorny bus. Sirius regrettably followed suite and joined James side, careful not to be noticed by any unsuspecting muggles.

'James, I really didn't thinkyou of all people were actually this stupid,' Sirius said laughing 'cmon, don't worry,'

'My mind has been so distracted, I didn't even think about my wand,' James mumbled dully 'I just can't stop thinking about mum,' James looked in the thorny bush that he had fallen in too and rummaged around in the dirt looking for his wand. James then saw a bright light which was illuminating a road and he cautiously made his way towards the deserted road. The sky was dimming and the sun was beginning to go down and James making sure the street was deserted jumped over the small wall and looked frantically along the road for his wand. As he was looking around for his wand James was unaware of a loud noise coming up from behind him.

'Aha, I've found it!' James declared, Sirius was hiding behind the wall and sighed relieved but then cried

'JAMES!'

The car hit James sharply in the back and he dropped to the floor, Sirius ran out into the middle of the road as the owner of the car stepped out.

AN: It will move to Hogwarts in two chapters and it isn't a cliché Lily/James I promsie


End file.
